Glenn Stevens says Australia's passage through the financial crisis relatively unscathed is not just down to luck, and there is every reason to believe the nation's record run of economic growth can continue.

Speaking at the annual Anika Foundation luncheon hosted by Australian Business Economists, the Reserve Bank governor said Australia's solid banking system, strong public finances and flexible exchange rate leading into the financial crisis stood it in good stead to withstand the global downturn.

"In both the monetary and fiscal areas, of course, having used the scope we had so aggressively, it was also necessary, as I argued in 2009, to re-invest in building further scope, by returning settings to normal once the emergency had passed," he observed.

Mr Stevens also maintains a much more positive view of China than many market economists.

"The recent data suggest that, so far, this is a normal cyclical slowing, not a sudden slump of the kind that occurred in late 2008," he argued.

"The data are quite consistent with Chinese growth in industrial output of something like 10 per cent, and GDP growth in the 7 to 8 per cent range."

The Reserve Bank governor again also played down concerns about an Australian property crash, while at the same time urging caution to those who believe prices will soon resume an upward trajectory.

"It is a very dangerous idea to think that dwelling prices cannot fall. They can, and they have," Mr Stevens said.

"The point is simply that historical or international comparisons, to the extent they can be made, do not constitute definitive evidence of an imminent slump."

The nation's head central banker pointed to a graph showing that while the Australian house price to income ratio is more than double that of the US, it is comparable to Belgium, New Zealand, the UK, Canada and post-housing crash Ireland.

Mr Stevens says housing affordability has "improved significantly" over recent years due to rising incomes and declining home values, and 99 per cent of bank mortgages are being serviced fully.

"It has to be said that the housing market bubble, if that’s what it is, seems to be taking quite a long time to pop – if that’s what it is going to do," he commented.

"The ingredients we would look for as signalling an imminent crash seem, if anything, less in evidence now than five years ago."

However, while presenting an upbeat picture of Australia's economic outlook, Mr Stevens sounded a note of caution and reserved an important place for the doomsayers

"We should always be wary of the conventional wisdom being too easily accepted. We should never, ever, assume that ‘it couldn’t happen here’."